Woods - night. Patti Smith's "Dancing Barefoot" begins to play over the sequence. The camera swiftly moves past a Black Virgin statuette and focuses on the necklaces and pendants which have been strung up in the tree branches. The wind blows and they clatter against each other. Several pairs of bare feet are seen stepping on the vegetation, circling a stone.

SONG: She is benediction. She is addicted to thee. She is the root connection. She is connecting with he.

There are several more shots of the necklaces and pendants in the trees, interwoven with those of four girls who are dancing in the woods. They swing back their heads and shake their hair - as if possessed by some greater power.

SONG: Here I go and I don't know why. I fell so ceaselessly. Could it be he's taken over me?

The girls clasp hands and repeatedly circle the stone, pulling each other forward in an intense dance. The camera moves upward through the tree branches, observing them from overhead.

High School corridor - day. A teenage boy picks up a scrunched up piece of paper off the ground and reads it as he walks toward his friend who is talking to a girl near a wall of lockers. He taps his friend on the back and hands him the paper. His friend looks at the large, red handwriting: Don't go to Prayer Circle! and crumples the paper once more. He tosses it in a wastebasket and walks through a throng of students.

SONG: She is sublimation. She is the essence of thee. She is concentrating on he, Who is chosen by she. Here I go and I don't know why. I spin so ceaselessly. Could it be he's taking over me?

High School. A mini-van pulls up next to an empty parking lot space reserved for E. Shetterly. The license plate of the vehicle reads: Washington / 637-VUX. The camera pans upward and the driver is seen getting out - it's Catherine Black. She quickly opens the van door and runs toward the school entrance.

In the corridor, a blonde, teenage girl, Clare McKenna, walks past the two boys from earlier. They watch her with disgust and each stick out their index and pinky fingers.

TEENAGE BOYS: (chanting quietly) Devil girl!

The girl walks toward the camera with an emotionless face. Behind her, two other girls join her. The other students avert their eyes and avoid contact.

They are joined by two other girls and head toward a flight of stairs. Clare turns around and stares directly at the camera as her friends walk around her in silence and climb the steps. She then follows them. They approach a classroom door and Clare sighs heavily before entering. The door closes behind them. A yellow sign taped to the door reads: PRAYER MEETING AT 3:15pm. A close-up of Catherine's face shows her escalating fear as she sprints toward the classroom.

CLARE: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus.

The classroom door quietly opens a crack and the side of a figure in a black coat can barely be seen. He removes a gun from his pocket and steadily takes aim.

CLARE: Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us (she trails off as the gun cocks) sinners...

Another close-up of Catherine in terror as she continues to the classroom.

CATHERINE O.S.:' No!

Clare looks toward the doorway in sadness then closes her eyes and bows her head. The gun fires.

Woods - night. Several screams are heard as the camera zooms past some vegetation and focuses on the Black Virgin.

SONG: (mixed with screams) Oh God, I fell for you... (the line is continually repeated)

SONG: (V.O.) The plot of our lives sweats in the dark like a face: the mystery of childbirth, of childhood itself, grave visitations... What is this that calls to us? Why must we pray screaming? Why must not death be redefined? We shut our eyes, we stretch out our arms and whirl on a pane of glass - an asphyxiation, a fix on anything - the line of life, the limb of a tree, the hands of he, and the promise that she is blessed among women.

Water accumulates in the eyes of the Black Virgin - as if crying because of the preceding events.

fade to black

polaroid fade up

Lara's jeep - night. Lara Means is gripping the steering wheel, an unlit cigarette rests between the index and middle fingers of her right hand. She places the cigarette in the mouth and pulls out a lighter. She flicks the lighter on and studies the flame. Distorted sounds are heard as the flame appears to be burning within her eyes, in front of billowing clouds. The clouds turn bright orange and horses are seen trotting and heard whinnying. This is the same vision Lara had in "Roosters". The visions eventually subside and Lara lights her cigarette, allowing the nicotine to soothe her. In the rear view mirror she sees a woman's shining face, partially concealed by a cloak. Lara turns around and looks at the back seat, but there is no one there. She continues driving, smoking her cigarette.

Rowan, Washington - day. Traffic and people occupy the streets of a small town.

Rowan, WashingtonTwo days earlier

A news crew is interviewing Reverend Sam Hanes outside St. Peter's Church. Catherine is driving her van past, listening to the broadcast on her radio.

REVEREND HANES V.O.: Our Lord told John that we'd see messengers traveling to and from heaven. However, it's unlikely that a holy messenger would take the form of the likes of this.

EMMA: I can't thank you enough for taking time away from your family to help me out with this, Cath.

CATHERINE: I'd do anything for you.

Emma chuckles.

CATHERINE: Besides, it gives Jordan and Frank some time to spend with Frank's dad.

EMMA: Are the two of you still having a rough time?

CATHERINE: Our separation never meant that Frank and I didn't love each other. Just the opposite in fact. We're getting stronger as a family.

Emma smiles phonily.

CATHERINE: You got that therapist look down pat.

EMMA: Do I really? chuckles It's hard to tell with the kids.

CATHERINE: It is hard, I've worked with children.

EMMA: Children can't be put into convenient little boxes anymore. Which is good, on the one hand, because they shouldn't be, but on the other hand, Cath, it makes me nervous. Kids seem to know so much about the world these days, but they're growing up without role models and knowing too much makes them reject responsibility. Even their own parents don't take responsibility for them. More often than not I've been a convenient scapegoat.

CATHERINE: Five girls claim to have seen a vision of the Virgin Mary - the ultimate role model. And you don't believe them.

EMMA: It's appalling, isn't it? I just instantly thought why, why would the Virgin Mary appear to these ordinary, to my mind, unworthy teenagers. I, I was ...

CATHERINE: Jealous?

EMMA: You have still got that insight that made you Doctor Hill's favorite student.

Catherine enters the library and approaches the table. As she pulls up a chair, Kelly places a pad of paper over her drawing.

CATHERINE: Why'd you cover that up?

KELLY monotonic: Didn't turn out right.

Catherine removes the pad and looks at Kelly's work: a brown horse with a crescent moon and star in the upper-left corner.

CATHERINE: I think it's wonderful. Is it a thoroughbred?

KELLY suddenly interested: How'd you know?

CATHERINE: I always wanted a horse. All my friends had horses. But the closest I ever got was drawing them.

The girls listen with curiosity.

CATHERINE: Of course, my drawings always looked like a... log with a mane and a tail. begins to draw on the pad of paper I guess you could see almost anything in it, if you were looking for it.

Catherine shows the girls her pathetic drawing and they all laugh.

CATHERINE: When I was twelve, um, a friend's mom saw Jesus in a loaf of bread.

The girls avert their eyes.

CATHERINE: Maybe she did see something and now we'll never know. I'd like to help you, if you'll let me.

They look at each other questionably and Maureen recounts how her friends experienced their vision.

MAUREEN: Reverend Hanes was reading from the book of John.

St. Peter's Church - day. There are about 60 people there, listening intently to Reverend Hanes who is preaching at the pulpit. The five girls are all sitting together at the front of the church, also listening to the sermon.

'MAUREEN V.O.:' Chapter Six, Verse 36 - after the loaves and the fishes. He was preaching about how Jesus was the bread of life. If we only believe in Jesus we'd never go hungry again.

REVEREND HANES: Jesus told the apostles, "I am the bread of life if you come to me you will never hunger. If you believe, if you believe in me, you will never thirst."

'MAUREEN V.O.:' Reverend Hanes said the apostles saw Jesus but they didn't believe. He said non- believers go to Hell.

REVEREND HANES: "You have even seen me and you still refuse to believe. You still refuse to believe."

MAUREEN V.O.: It was scary, then it wasn't scary. There was a light and it moved. a bright light shines on Clare All of a sudden, there she was.

The girls all turn their heads and stare towards the bright light. Clare unsteadily stands to her feet.

CLARE: I see her.

MAUREEN V.O.: We saw her. Clare started the hail Mary. It just - it felt right.

The others in the church rise and look at the girls, who are on their knees, praying aloud. Clare faces the light as the others are turned away with their eyes closed.

CLARE AND THE GIRLS: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and in the hour of our death.

Reverend Hanes stands at his pulpit in apparent frustration.

MAUREEN V.O.: But Reverend Hanes didn't see her. Clare said Mary would never appear to someone like him.

The library.

MAUREEN: He said we were sent from Satan.

Catherine finishes listening, saddened and sympathetic. Maureen sees Clare walk through the library, observing them with disapproval. The girls return to their work and Catherine turns in confusion. She watches Clare walk away.

CATHERINE: Can we talk again later?

The girls simply ignore her, but watch as Catherine gets up and leaves. A boy, Alex Hanes, approaches her from behind.

ALEX: It wasn't John, it was Matthew.

Catherine spins around.

ALEX: My dad's the preacher.

St. Peter's Church. As before, the patrons are listening intently to Reverend Hanes who is preaching at the pulpit. The five girls are all sitting together towards the back of the church, giggling and talking with each other. The people behind them shaking their heads in disgust.

ALEX V.O.: It was verse 25 - about the maidens and the bridegrooms and preparing for Judgment Day.

Alex turns around and ssh-es them. They laugh and kick the back of his pew.

ALEX V.O.: Finally my dad took notice. He said this was their last warning.

REVEREND HANES pointing at the girls: This is your last warning.

The girls roll their eyes.

ALEX V.O.: And that's when it happened.

Clare jumps up from her seat.

ALEX V.O.: "I see her!"

CLARE: I see her!

Alex turns around again in anger. The others jump to their feet.

REVEREND HANES: Girls.

They all kneel in unison and pretend to pray.

The library.

ALEX: That's what she said. And now everybody thinks that she is divine. But she's not. She's going to Hell.

Catherine stares back at the boy.

Outside Emma Shetterly's office. Catherine enters the office outside Emma's own. She closes the door behind her and listens to the radio that is sitting on the secretary's desk, next to a tall, lit candle.

MAN ON THE RADIO V.O.: I believe that Clare McKenna's problems stem directly from the fact that she's being raised by a single parent. That's ...

The secretary turns the radio off as Catherine approaches.

SECRETARY: Nobody can see the truth.

CATHERINE: Truth?

SECRETARY: About Clare.

CATHERINE: And that truth being?

SECRETARY: Well, I guess that's what you'll find out.

Catherine walks toward Emma's office.

SECRETARY: Uh, not now, you're not.

CATHERINE: I have an appointment with Clare.

SECRETARY: Well, you'll have to wait until the other lady finishes her questioning.

CLARE: And the savior said: "The visionary does not see with the soul or the spirit but with the mind that exists between these two. That is what sees the vision and that is what..." I bet you'd love to know what comes next.

The camera pans and Lara Means is sitting across from Clare.

LARA: Nobody knows what comes next. Those passages are missing.

Clare stares back with intensity and Catherine observes them both from outside through the window blinds.

fade to black

polaroid fade up

Emma Shetterly's office. Catherine and Lara are sitting across from Emma, who is listening with hesitation as the two women argue the merits of the girls' visions.

CATHERINE: Looks like the first half hour of every high school dance I ever went to. If somebody put in a KISS album and cranked up "Beth" we'd see a quick resolution to any gender issues.

LARA: I'd have to disagree.

Catherine turns toward her in confusion.

LARA: Well, the slow dance of choice would absolutely have to be Journey "Hope and Arms."

Lara smiles at Catherine who turns away amused. Just then, Alex Hanes steps forward from the group of boys and addresses the room.

ALEX: Okay, I need a volunteer to read.

Clare steps forward from the group of girls and raises her hand.

ALEX: Somebody else.

Lara looks away from the teenagers and at a man, Ben Fisher, observing the students. She quickly avoids his eye contact as he begins to intuitively turn towards her.

CLARE strangely calm: Jesus said, "As God as my witness. You'll see the sky open and God's messengers traveling to and from the sons of Adam."

Alex is exasperated at Clare's dramatics.

CLARE: Jesus said he'd show us wonders if we'd only believe what we saw.

ALEX: Miss Shetterly, she's supposed to read, not make stuff up!

Emma tries to appease Alex, but her nervousness prevents her from saying the words.

CLARE: "I know the first ones, and those after them know me."

ALEX: That is not from the Bible, that comes from Satan!

CLARE: "I am the power of the powers and my knowledge of the angels who have been sent at my word."

THE BOYS chanting repeatedly: Devil Girl! Devil Girl!

Emma rushes in front of Clare.

EMMA: Alex, boys, stop this!

CLARE: "I am peace and war has come because of me. I am the first and the last..."

Catherine listens to Clare with intensity.

CLARE: "The alpha and the omega."

A brief flashback from the episode "The Beginning and the End" as Catherine is strung up, crying while The Polaroid Stalker whispers to her.

THE POLAROID STALKER: "I am the beginning and I am the end."

The prayer meeting. The boys continue to chant "Devil Girl". Clare turns toward Catherine who runs out of the room. Lara watches her go and stares at Ben Fisher who stares back.

A bathroom. Catherine is standing at a sink, running her hands under the water. She cups some in her hand and splashes her face. She looks in the mirror.

Another flashback from the episode "The Beginning and the End" as Catherine is strung up, crying while The Polaroid Stalker whispers to her.

THE POLAROID STALKER: "I am the first and I am the last."

The bathroom. Catherine runs her fingers over her lips, recalling her past horror.

The corridor. She eventually leaves the restroom and suddenly stops upon hearing Lara's voice. She sees Lara talking with Peter Watts at the bottom of a stairwell.

LARA: She's formidable, Peter.

WATTS: And him? What about him?

LARA: Arrived July 2nd, 1982.

WATTS: The day she was born.

Catherine listens more closely to their conversation.

LARA: Having confirmed that a member of The Family is here, Peter, I'm doubting my ability to merely stand by.

WATTS: When Darwin published his theory of evolution and natural selection, people lost faith. Some committed suicide.

LARA: Are you saying we face that possibility now?

WATTS: Just remember why you're here.

Lara looks downward.

WATTS: Is Catherine's presence a problem?

LARA: No. She'd never believe in what we know.

Catherine steps back and ponders the exchange that just took place.

A playground outside the school. Catherine begins walking toward her van and notices Clare sitting alone on a bench, watching children spinning themselves around on a merry-go-round. She approaches the girl and sits down on the bench next to her.

CLARE continuing to watch the children: You don't believe me.

CATHERINE: I haven't really had a chance to make up my mind yet.

CLARE: My dad thinks I'm just trying to get attention.

CATHERINE: Are you?

CLARE sarcastically: Right. What my friends and I really want is our parents paying attention to everything we do.

CATHERINE: Clare, I was wondering about something that you said at the prayer circle ...

CLARE: I used to be a chronicler like you. Only, I believed. Then I got tested, like you. And I didn't believe.

CATHERINE: Tested?

CLARE: By the man who took all the pictures of you - the one who told you the truth.

Yet another flashback from the episode "The Beginning and the End" as The Polaroid Stalker looks upward, bleeding from the mouth.

The playground. Catherine sighs and looks downward as Clare turns the bracelet on her right wrist with her hand. The children jump off the merry-go-round. The merry-go-round continues to swivel as Clare continues to rotate her bracelet. Clare removes her shoes and runs bare-footed over to the merry-go-round.

CATHERINE: Clare?

Clare gleefully grips the merry-go-round as it turns by itself. Lara approaches the bench from behind and watches Clare as well. However, unlike Catherine, she sees Clare in slow-motion, bathed in a bright light.

CATHERINE looking behind and upward at Lara: Are you alright?

Lara doesn't respond, but continues to watch the girl spin in circles.

Catherine's mini-van.

CATHERINE: You think she's a visionary? sighs All I see is a child who's getting a kick out of turning this town upside down.

LARA: A child who can recite gnostic texts?

CATHERINE looking at Lara with curiosity: That wasn't from the Bible?

LARA: Before Emperor Constantine even became a Christian in 337, he ordered the confiscation and destruction of all works that challenged orthodox Christianity as set forth by the council of Nicaea in 325. The so-called gnostic texts were excluded from the Bible for, among other things, promoting the idea that Mary Magdalene was Christ's witness and the only apostle who truly understood Christ's teachings. Clare was reciting from a text called "Thunder Perfect Mind" - it's fascinating. Page after page of contradictions, "I am the virgin and the whore", "the mother and the daughter".

CATHERINE: The alpha and the omega?

LARA: That one she tacked on.

CATHERINE: So she doesn't have any idea what she's saying?

Lara doesn't respond.

CATHERINE: Before launching into gnosticism, she parroted a speech that the preacher gave this morning. If all hell hadn't broken loose, maybe she would have added a little "It was the best of times; It was the worst of times" just to keep things lively.

Unamused, Lara turns away.

The McKenna household - day. Catherine bangs the metal knocker against the door and Ray McKenna opens it without hesitation.

CATHERINE: Are you Mr. McKenna?

Ray nods his head.

CATHERINE: We're ..

RAY: I know who you are.

Ray opens the door to Clare's bedroom and the two women enter.

RAY: Clare's going to pitch a fit when she finds out about this.

CATHERINE: I understand your concern, but looking at Clare's belongings, finding out about her interests...

Catherine handles a pendant suspended from the ceiling - the star inside the crescent moon which Kelly had drawn earlier.

CATHERINE: ...will tell us more about her than she's willing to verbalize.

RAY: If you say so. Ever since this started, it's like half the town is fighting over Clare. Preacher Hanes is all over TV with promises about driving evil out of town and Miss Shetterly thinks Clare's some case for her journals.

Catherine turns around and looks at Clare's bookcase which contains copies of C.S. Lewis's "Chronicles of Narnia," "The Golden Compass" and "The Subtle Knife" both by Philip Pullman, and "The Dark is Rising" by Susan Cooper among others. Catherine removes "The Dark is Rising" and looks its back cover: a horse galloping. Meanwhile, Lara picks up Clare's diary off her dresser.

RAY: A bunch of grown people want to act like jackasses waiting for a divine message from a child, they deserve whatever foolishness she comes up with.

Catherine opens her book to the inside cover inscribed: All The Best! Ben Fisher. Lara begins reading the diary: SHE CAME TO ME TODAY.

CLARE V.O.: She came to me today.

The shore of a lake - day. Clare is standing near the water's edge, smiling as a lone rowboat drifts toward her. Inside, a Black Virgin, positioned on several pieces of paper. Clare bends down, pulling her hair back under her ears, and gently feels the statue with her finger tips.

The McKenna household.

LARA to Ray: Tell me about Ben Fisher.

RAY: The drama teacher? What about him?

CATHERINE: He's given her a lot of books.

RAY: In my eyes, Ben Fisher's the only one who's not out to get something from Clare. He's been good to her, gave her the lead in the school play. Told me she was great at memorizing lines.

Catherine unfolds a piece of paper enclosed in "The Dark is Rising" - a biblical painting of a young man speaking to a woman. Lara looks over toward Clare's bedroom window. On a dresser below the window sits the Black Virgin that Clare found earlier. It's surrounded by six small candles and next to a tall, larger one. Catherine watches Lara move toward it.

CATHERINE to Lara: What's that?

LARA: Well it, it's a Black Virgin. It's believed to be part of a religion that can be traced back to the first century. They're usually associated with natural phenomenon, ley-lines, places of power. Legend has it that they become very heavy if moved against their will.

Catherine grasps the statue and attempts to lift, expecting to do so easily. She looks at Lara, who is watching intensely, with surprise. Catherine tries again with more force, but without success. Lara reaches toward the statue, placing her fingers apprehensively around it. Suddenly Clare bursts into the room.

CLARE: Don't you dare touch her!

Clare swiftly picks up the statue, exchanges glances with the two women, and runs out the room. Catherine and Lara stare in shock and amazement.

fade to black

polaroid fade up

The McKenna household, a little later. Clare is sitting next to her father on their living room couch, the Black Virgin tucked snugly under her arm. Catherine is sitting in a chair, close to them. Lara is across the room and quietly observing.

CATHERINE: I'm sorry if we upset you, Clare, but we need to understand.

CLARE: No you don't. You want to prove I didn't see anything. You think I made my friends say that they saw something.

CATHERINE: I won't lie to you, I think it's a possibility. Maybe you and your friends thought that you saw something and you believed in it so much that other people began to believe in it too.

Clare turns to face Lara.

CLARE to Catherine: You're trying to make sure she doesn't believe it.

CLARE to Lara: You do see. But not the angel. Your angel. You don't see him here.

LARA: How do you know?

CLARE Suddenly, strangely calm: I was lost afterwards.

RAY concerned: Clare.

CLARE: I'd go to the garden, but he's not there. Where have they taken him?

Catherine looks at Lara for understanding, but finds her suppressing tears.

CLARE: The gardener's there, and I ask him but, as I turn, I realize it's not the gardener. I'd seen him die three days earlier.

Clare's mindset returns to the present and she glances around the room, finding only worried faces. She quickly jumps from her seat and bolts from the room. The adults stand as well.

CATHERINE to Ray: Just give her some time.

Ray resists the temptation to follow Clare, but Lara doesn't.

CATHERINE: Lara.

LARA: She shouldn't be alone right now.

CATHERINE: I do hope you mean Clare.

Lara gazes at Catherine with dismay.

Ben Fisher's classroom - day. Ben looks up from his work as Lara and Catherine enter the room.

CATHERINE: Mr. Fisher? My name is Catherine Black turning towards Lara and this is Lara Means.

BEN: There's been an upswing in the number of psychologists on campus.

CATHERINE: I understand you've been something of a mentor to Clare.

Lara surveys the posters hanging on the classroom. Among them, a black and white drawing of rose with the inscription: DAT ROSA MEL APIBU S above it, ancient temples, and underneath a portrait of a friar, a picture of the Mary Magdalene - a shocking resemblance to the woman who was in the backseat of Lara's jeep earlier.

BEN: She's a student.

CATHERINE: You've given her a lot of books.

BEN: She's an unusual student. She likes to read.

CATHERINE: Stories about isolated children who have been given special powers and destinies.

BEN: Clare scares people. They can't accept that a higher power could or would speak through a child.

CATHERINE: But you can?

BEN: She has a gift. That frightens people so much so, it's considered a curse.

Catherine's cell phone rings.

CATHERINE holding the phone to her ear: Hello?

The scene intercuts between Catherine and Ray talking.

RAY: Mrs. Black? She's gone. Taken that statue and rounded up her friends. She was so upset. I don't know what to do.

CATHERINE: I left my husband because I wouldn't stand for the secrecy surrounding The Millennium Group. Now I'm certainly not going to put up with it from you. Not in the middle of the night, in the freezing woods. Not when those girls need my help. Now you either tell me what you know, or what you believe, or I'm leaving you here. You're on your own, just like Frank Black.

LARA looks down and pauses: Clare has been collecting her disciples. That vision in the church that day, that wasn't the Virgin Mary. That was Mary Magdalene, looking for someone in the garden. Mary Magdalene was the first witness of the resurrection, recognizing the risen Christ. If the Black Virgin was meant to be the Magdalene, then that explains ...

Lara silences her by holding up her hand. Clare and her friends are in a circle, holding hands. Above them hang the necklaces and pendants. Behind them, Ben Fisher stands observing.

CLARE lapsing into the past: I have to find him. He's not dead. Not dead.

BEN: You're right. He's alive.

Lara and Catherine walk down a slope into the clearing.

CATHERINE angrily to Ben: What the hell's going on here?

The girls quickly move behind Ben, while Clare has no awareness of her surroundings. Ben pulls Clare toward him and she rests her head on his chest.

CATHERINE: Mr. Fisher, please step away.

BEN: There must be a sacrifice.

Catherine gently pulls Ben away from Clare.

BEN: Don't touch her.

Stepping in front of Catherine, Lara more forcefully pushes Ben to the side.

LARA: Okay, okay. Woah.

Clare rushes towards Lara and grabs hers by the arm.

CLARE staring at Lara: Leave him alone! You don't understand. We have to do this. We have to.

Lara stares back.

CATHERINE trying to pull Clare away: Sweetheart...

CLARE resisting: No. You can't stop us. We have to finish it and you have to write it down.

Lara looks at Ben and then at the Black Virgin, surrounded by flowers.

A Police station - night. A police offer escorts Ben Fisher down the hall as Reverend Hanes and his son, Alex, approach the girls. They're sitting together with Clare's father, Ray, standing quietly next to them and Catherine and Lara seated in chairs nearby.

REVEREND HANES to Ray: This is what happens when you allow denizens of Hell into your heart.

LARA whispering to Catherine: He's not a cliché?

REVEREND HANES: We must end this godlessness. I demand to baptize these girls in the name of Jesus Christ, our savior, before Satan has the chance to worm his way any further into their hearts.

Ray looks down at the girls who are looking up with innocence, then back at Reverend Hanes. Alex nods in agreement with his father. Ray finally nods his own head.

RAY: Make ready the ways of the Lord. Make his paths straight.

The girls turn away in sadness.

St. Peter's Church - day.

REVEREND HANES dipping his hands in water: I baptize thee in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

Clare's friends have each been baptized, their hair slicked back. Lara and Catherine watch sympathetically from the pews as Reverend Hanes approaches Clare who backs up in fear.

CLARE shouting: No!

The other patrons in the church gasp as a bright light appears between Reverend Hanes and Clare. Hanes stares with wonder and the girls fold their hands in prayer. Mary Magdalene, wrapped in a shimmering gold cloak, turns toward Clare with affection. The spectators murmur and Catherine gawks in amazement. Clare smiles, while Lara is near tears.

CLARE: Mother, forgive them. They know not what they do.

Ray escorts his daughter out of the church as people reach toward her, placing their hands on her shoulders. Reverend Hanes approaches Clare with a longing for forgiveness and understanding in his eyes. Ray and Clare simply turn away and continue walking. Alex observes his father's behavior and stands among the crowd in resentment. Catherine joins Lara who is watching from a distance.

CATHERINE: Those words - Clare believed she was being crucified.

LARA: Of course not.

CATHERINE: Christians hold that plea sacred.

LARA turns around sharply: Clare holds it sacred, too. How would you feel if you were baptized against your will by a religion who transformed Mary Magdalene of the gnostic texts, the apostle of the apostles, into a mere prostitute?

CATHERINE: You've seen this before - working with The Millennium Group?

LARA saddened: No. I've seen. That's why The Group wants me. That's why they want Frank. I've had the experience my entire life. But not like this, not like Clare. She seems to understand what's happening to her, who she is. I envy her strength, as I fear my growing weakness.

CATHERINE: Will Frank grow weaker?

LARA: What Frank sees is also different. He uses his ability and manipulates it to see evil, to feel it. I never know where evil lies, only that it exists. pleading Don't leave him alone, Catherine. These visions are so isolating. Lately, they seem to prey on my loneliness, driving me to an inevitability.

Catherine listens with empathy.

LARA: And if it's true for me, then it will be true for Frank - unless you're there.

CATHERINE: If it's true, and I'm not willing to believe that everything you've said is true, I need greater proof. And I'm not willing to let this little girl be a Millennium test case or a personal one for me or for you.

LARA: Clare's not Frank or me. Who she is or what she could be is out of the control of The Group.

CATHERINE: Regardless of what happened in there, telling her that's she's blessed or cursed with visions - I don't see an upside to that.

LARA: Catherine, there's absolutely nothing you can do about it.

CATHERINE firmly: I can let Clare know that she's not alone in this.

Catherine walks passed Lara who then begins to weep.

fade to black

polaroid fade up

The police station. Ben Fisher is sitting at a table in a bleak room, saved only by the sunlight shining through a few small windows. Across from him sits Lara Means.

BEN constantly composed: Did you check the church for a projector? It would be easy to set something like that up.

LARA: I know who you are.

BEN: Then we're even. Since The Millennium Group and The Family split, this is our first time knocking heads with you people. And honestly, I am not that impressed. I expected someone more formidable, instead I get a candidate fumbling in the dark, so obviously afraid. Not only of what she knows, but of what she doesn't know.

LARA: I know enough to recognize that the role that you're playing is a lie. That your only agenda is that of The Family.

BEN: My only agenda is to help Clare understand who she is.

LARA scoffs: You're her selfless, pious guardian is that it? Hmm?

BEN: You're angry.

LARA tersely: Damn right I am. You are taking advantage of a ...

BEN: Be honest Miss Means - you're angry because you're jealous. Imagine, at fifteen, to have had someone completely understand you, someone to explain. What is it you see? Angels? Demons? The future?

Lara doesn't respond.

BEN: Angels, then. But your angel's abandoned you, hasn't he? You've been without his guidance ever since you came into this town. You fear him, but you rely on him, but he's afraid - afraid of the presence of a higher power.

LARA curious: The Magdalene? I, I need to know.

BEN: You lied before, you don't know anything about me.

Lara looks away.

BEN: They won't be able to hold me, you know.

Lara rolls her eyes and starts to get up. She hesitates as Ben begins speaking again.

BEN: "If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you."

CLARE: It only has one. pauses She came to me when I needed her. And you've taken Mr. Fisher away. And they won't let me talk to him.

CATHERINE: He's not the only one who cares about you, Clare.

CLARE: He's the only one who understands. You've all been shown, but you don't believe.

CATHERINE: Look, I don't know the truth about what you've seen, but whatever it is, whatever it means, you can't let it keep you apart from the world. You were born to live here, not in some mystical place inside your mind. Maybe you have been given a gift, I don't know, but we're all given gifts every day in things that we might think are just ordinary.

CLARE firmly: I'm not Jordan.

Catherine is taken back by Clare's words.

Outside the McKenna household - day. Catherine sits inside her mini-van watching Clare climb into her father's truck. They speed off toward the high school, with Ben Fisher driving behind them. Catherine sits up in alarm and starts her engine.

WATTS: After all we've been through, Lara, you just have to trust we're doing the right thing.

LARA: I can't, Peter. It would be murder.

The High School. Catherine pulls her mini-van up next to an empty parking lot space. She quickly opens the van door and runs toward the entrance.

Ben Fisher's classroom. Lara is standing behind Ben Fisher's desk, using a letter opener to pick the lock of his desk drawer. She places the letter opener back into a pencil holder and opens the drawer. She pulls out several papers, a thick book, and a large, manila envelope. Lara looks up as the classroom door opens.

CATHERINE out-of-breath: Where's Fisher?

LARA: He's not in jail?

CATHERINE: You didn't bail him out?

LARA: Why would I?

CATHERINE: You tell me. sighs Something bad's going to happen. I've got to find him before it does. checks her watch It's after three. So Clare's probably gone to the prayer circle, right? That's where Fisher will go? For the sacrifice?

LARA: You can't stop it! You, you don't understand!

CATHERINE: You have known what's going on all along. Why were you sent? Who is he? scoffs My own husband couldn't tell me that I was being stalked by a psychopath, I don't suppose that you can tell me why a similar psychopath is stalking a little girl.

The corridor. Patti Smith's "Dancing Barefoot" begins to play over the sequence. A teenage boy reads a piece of formerly scrunched paper and looks at the large, red handwriting: Don't go to Prayer Circle! and crumples the paper once more. He tosses it in a wastebasket and walks through a throng of students.

SONG: She is benediction. She is addicted to thee. She is the root connection. She is connecting with he.

A yellow sign taped to a classroom door reads: PRAYER MEETING AT 3:15pm.

Inside the classroom, Clare is standing with her friends. A teacher nods for Clare to begin.

CLARE: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

MAUREEN perplexed: Clare, what are you doing?

CLARE not responding: Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus.

A close-up of Catherine's face shows her escalating fear as she sprints toward the classroom.

The classroom door is open a crack and the side of a figure in a black coat can barely be seen. He removes a gun from his pocket and steadily takes aim.

SONG: Here I go and I don't know why.

CLARE: Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us she trails off as the gun cocks sinners...

Clare looks toward the doorway in sadness then closes her eyes and bows her head.

Another close-up of Catherine in terror.

CATHERINE: No!

She continues to the classroom as Alex, the figure in the black coat, looks at her.

SONG: I spin so ceaselessly.

Alex hesitates, but the gun fires.

The song abruptly ends.

Catherine removes the gun from Alex's hand as the teacher calms him.

ALEX crying: Does Jesus love her more than me?

TEACHER: No, Alex, no. to Catherine, referring to Ben He jumped right in front of her.

ALEX to the teacher: I was just trying to scare her.

Catherine walks over and finds Ben lying face down on the ground. She clasps Clare's hand and they both kneel down. Catherine rolls Ben over and the girls begin sobbing.

Lara approaches, looking down at Ben. Catherine puts her arm around Clare and helps her to stand. She pulls the girl to her chest and rocks her gently. Catherine and Lara exchange looks. Then, Catherine glances down one last time at the deceased Ben Fisher.

The Prayer Meeting. Time has passed since the shooting during the prayer circle and Catherine sits alone with her thoughts. Lara enters, carrying a large, manila envelope.

CATHERINE: Was all this really necessary? Ben Fisher's death? The life of that boy ruined? And Clare.

LARA: I believe so, yeah. Fisher was at odds with The Group, but he was right too. There had to be a sacrifice in order to set certain events in motion.

CATHERINE: So your belief in some twisted destiny allows you to justify your inaction?

LARA: Whatever I did, Catherine, no matter how I manipulated certain events, Fisher was going to die in this classroom today. Think about it. What sent Clare to that prayer circle today? Was it fate? Was it destiny? Or was it you?

CATHERINE: So Fisher's death leaves Clare with no one to guide her toward her destiny?

Lara doesn't respond, but doesn't dispute.

CATHERINE: Toward revealing Mary Magdalene's message to the world?

Lara opens the envelope and pulls out several oversized photographs.

LARA: It was never about the message, it was always about the messenger.

She shows Catherine a photograph of Fisher's back - marked by a tattoo of a bright, red cross.

LARA: Fisher was here for a reason. Tradition and our research confirms that descendants of the Merovingian Dynasty, The Family, whose job it is to protect the Holy Grail - bear this mark, like Ben Fisher. taps the photograph A thousand years ago, The Millennium Group and The Family shared a vision - over time that vision changed. Inevitably prompting a split between the two groups.

LARA: Maybe I don't trust The Group enough to believe that they should be holding all the cards. smiles I guess now it's your deal.

Lara walks out of the room.

St. Peter's Church - day. Catherine enters the church and finds Clare sitting alone in a pew. She hands Clare a piece of paper. Clare unfolds it - it's the biblical painting Catherine found earlier in Clare's bedroom while flipping through "The Dark is Rising" - a young man delivering a message to a woman.

CLARE referring to Ben: He gave this to me.

CATHERINE: I thought he might have.

CLARE: He said it was a picture of the Virgin Mary, finding out she was going to be God's mother. It's a picture of the very second she understands.

CATHERINE: She knows that she's very special.

CLARE tersely: She knows her life is ruined.

Catherine's mini-van - day. Catherine sits in her van and picks up a large book off the passenger seat that has: THE FAMILY inscribed on the cover. She opens the book to a page that says: HISTORY written at the top. Underneath is the same picture of Mary Magdalene that was hanging on the wall of Ben Fisher's classroom.

CATHERINE reading the passage at the bottom: "She will come in a boat, like the daughters of Danaus and the Virgin of Bologne-sur-mer."

Catherine looks up and sees a young man, dressed in a black coat and red scarf like Ben Fisher in the woods earlier, carrying the same book. She watches him in slow-motion as he crosses in front of her.

'BEN V.O.:' "She fed the saint which inspired the warrior monks to dig up the stable of a thousand horses and take their treasure to help the angels build the churches."

Catherine closes the book and places it back down on the seat. She then drives out onto the main road, returning home.

BEN V.O.: "Their treasure returned to Bethania and at the cutting of the elm they asked themselves, 'Whom does one serve by virtue of serving the Grail?' Thus, the sorcerer kings become The Family."

CLARE V.O.: "She suffered every indignity from them and she could not return to the Father. In a human body, she came to be confined."

The young man continues to walk off into the distance.

Lara Mean's home - night. A lamp illuminates the paintings hanging on the wall: Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary, holding her newborn son. Lara is sitting on her couch in woeful silence, watching a flickering candle on the table in front of her.

CLARE V.O.: "And thus, from age to age, she passed from body to body, into one female body after the other. Thus, she became the lost sheep."

Lara's pager vibrates on the table and it spins itself around. The display shows: 2000.